Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday met delegates from the entertainment industry and asked them to prepare an action plan on resuming film shooting as well as carrying out post-production activities. The Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE) had appealed to Thackeray to allow post-production work of films, shows and other entertainment projects which are nearing completion to restart. Like many other industries, the lockdown has heavily affected Bollywood and resulted in a loss of crores for the industry as shooting has been stalled since mid-March.

“The government would consider an action plan on how shooting and post-production activities can be resumed in a limited way by adhering to social distancing and other norms,” Thackeray told a delegation of representatives of the entertainment industry. A statement from the CM's office also stated that rent concessions to production houses who have their sets erected in the Film City and support to folk artists would be considered.

As for resuming of film shoots and post-production work, the CM said the demand can be considered in green and organe zones but not in red zones in the state. “However, care will have to be taken to ensure that locations for shooting a film are not situated in the containment zones and that the number of people on the sets and their hygiene is taken care of,” he stated.

As per a PTI report, the statement also revealed that shooting of about 70 Hindi, 40 Marathi films and 10 web series had stopped because of the coronavirus pandemic, which has affected the livelihood of more than three lakh workers and technicians.